SERVICE ANIMALS
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ND Law (ND Century Code, Sec 25-13) allow service animals to
accompany persons with disabilities on the UND campus. ADA defines "service animal" (sometimes
called "assistance animal" by members of the public) as:
".. .any .. .guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform
tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding
individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or
sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching
dropped items. (ADA Title III, 28 CFR 36.302(C) (1)
If an animal meets this definition, it is considered a service animal regardless of whether it has been
licensed or certified by a state or local government or a training program. See
Appendix A for types
of service animals.
The service animal is always with the partner. Many service animals will be wearing a harness, cape or
backpack, but some will have only a leash. It may be possible to discern that an animal is a service
animal from the partner's disability, but some disabilities are not visible. You may have to rely on
the verbal statement of the partner/handler. Persons with service animals may be asked to answer
the following questions in order to establish that their animal is a service animal protected under the law:
Do you have a disability for which this animal provides a service?
What tasks of daily living does this animal provide? See Appendix B
for further explanation of how to identify a service animal.
Requirements of Service Animals and Their Partner/Handlers
The care and supervision of a service animal is the responsibility of the individual with a disability
using the animal's services. The partner/handler must be in full control of the animal at all times.
The animal must behave properly in public settings. The partner of an animal that is unruly or
disruptive (e.g., barking, running around, bringing attention to itself) may be asked to remove
the animal from university facilities.
The animal is expected to have the appropriate vaccination, licensing and owner ID tags required
in the city of Grand Forks. See Appendix C for more information on these requirements.
Grievance - Any student dissatisfied with a decision made concerning a service animal should
follow the applicable UND grievance procedure in the Code of Student
Life, Appendix I-1.
Appendix A
Types of Service Animals
Guide Dog is a carefully trained dog that serves as a travel
tool for persons with severe visual impairments or who are blind.
Hearing Dog is a dog who has been trained to alert a person with
a significant hearing loss or who is deaf when a sound, e.g., knock on the door occurs.
Service Dog is a dog that has been trained to assist a person who has a mobility or health impairment.
Types of duties the dog may perform include carrying, fetching, opening doors, ringing doorbells,
activating elevator buttons, steadying a person while walking, helping a person up after the person
falls, etc. Service dogs are sometimes called assistance dogs.
The following are not Service Animals:
Pet/companion/comfort/protection animal - a domestic animal
kept for pleasure or companionship and/ or feeling of safety. Pets are not permitted in University
facilities (See "Animals on Campus" in the UND Safety and Loss Control Manual: www.safety.und.edu/policy/manual/general/general.html).
Therapy animal - an animal with good temperament and disposition
and has reliable, predictable behavior which is selected to visit people with disabilities or people who
are experiencing the frailty of aging as a therapy tool. A therapy animal does not assist a person with
a disability in the activities of daily living nor accompany him/her at all times. Thus, a therapy animal
is not covered by laws covering service animals.
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Appendix B
Examples to assist with determining service animal status:
- Student with no visible disability arrives on campus with an Irish Setter on an ordinary lead;
- Student in a wheelchair arrives on campus with a Siamese Cat in a cat harness;
- Student with apparent visual impairment arrives on campus with a dog in a guide harness.
In the first example, there is no evidence the dog
is service animal for two reasons -- there is no evidence that the student has a disability,
and there is no evidence that the dog has been trained to perform any task. It is therefore
permissible to inquire whether the student has a disability, and if so, what task the dog
has been trained to perform, and if the answers are not satisfactory, require the student
to bring reasonable appropriate evidence establishing that he/she is a person with a
disability and that the dog has been trained (whether by a third party or the student)
to perform a task that, by reason of disability, the student cannot perform for himself or herself.
In the second example, it is perfectly obvious that the student has a disability, but there is
still no evidence that the cat is a service animal; it is therefore permissible to inquire into
what task the cat has been trained to perform, and if the answer is not satisfactory, to require
reasonable appropriate evidence establishing that the cat has been trained (whether by a third
party or by the student to perform a specific task.
In the third example, the student appears to have
a disability, and the dog appears to be a service animal, so there is no reason to inquire
further or to ask the student to register with anyone.
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Appendix C
Vaccination: current
Licensing: City of Grand Forks
Owner ID and other tags: City of Grand Forks
Health : require annual clean bill of health from a licensed veterinarian.
Under control of Partner/Handler: Partner must be in full control of the animal at all times.
Behavior: Service animals are trained to behave properly in public settings.
Cleanup Rule: Partner is expected to immediately cleanup after the animal defecates. Fines for this
violation are established by Housing or Facilities.
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